


And We Meet Again-Carl Grimes/Reader

by Prettyprincess45



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Meeting, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 03:18:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3675432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prettyprincess45/pseuds/Prettyprincess45
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You looked at him. Was it really him? Was this Carl Grimes, the kid that you had practically grown up with? You approached him with a smile on your face and happy tears in your eyes. </p><p>"Carl?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	And We Meet Again-Carl Grimes/Reader

You stared at him. Was it really him? Could this be? How did this happen? How was he still alive? How did you get here again? You had too many questions and not enough answers. 

"Carl?" You asked him, looking into his eyes. They were the same as you remembered, and just as blue. But now, unlike before, he had deep sorrow in those eyes. And you didn't blame him. The world had gone to shit, and there was pratically nobody left. 

"(Insert your name here)? It's actually you?" He asked. 

"Yeah, your dad just found me out there, wandering around. outside of this prison. I recognized who he was right away. He recognized me too. And as soon as I realized who he was, I knew that I was going to see you again." You said. You actually had tears in your eyes. Everyone was coming out from their cells in cell block C to watch to you two. But you really didn't care. All that mattered was Carl. The boy that you knew as a kid. The boy that you once had a serious crush on. He was back, and he was cuter than ever. 

"Come here." He said. There were tears in his eyes too. He pulled you in for a tight hug. You held him close. You never wanted to let him go. 

"I missed you." You said quietly. You willed yourself not to cry into his shoulder, but you just couldn't help it.

"Same here. Remember the last time we saw each other? We were just little pipsqueaks. Now we're all grown up, and here we are, right back with each other again." He looked into your eyes and smiled.

You laughed. "Yeah. I remember...." 

XX

You first met Carl in third grade. You went into your classroom on the first day of school, and found the seat with your name tag on it. Your desk was right next to some boy that you didn't know. 

"Hi." You greeted politely. He didn't answer you. You waited a few seconds. 

"Hi." You tried again. 

He turned to look at you. You noticed a ton of freckles on his face, kind of cute. "Hi." He said. 

"What's your name?" You asked him. 

"Carl." He said. "Carl Grimes. You?" 

"I'm (Insert your name here)." You say. 

He sticks out his hand like a professional would. A little much for a third grader, but you shake with him anyway. "Nice to meet you." He says, smiling. 

You smile back at him. "Same here." You feel a blush creep it's way onto your cheeks.

Then your teacher storms in, a big lady wearing a huge blue dress. "HELLO CLASS!" She shouts, a little louder than necessary. 

"Hello!" The class greets in unison. She turns to scribble some class rules on the whiteboard. 

"She looks like a whale, and sounds like one too." Carl leans over and whispers to you. 

You giggle, and the teacher turns around at the noise. 

"Want to share what's so funny, young lady?" She asks in that booming voice of hers. 

You blush. "No." You say quietly. 

"What is your name?" She asks, staring you down. 

"(Insert your name here)." You say quietly. Were you going to get in trouble already, on the first day of school? 

"Well watch yourself (Insert first name here)." She says. 

Carl turns to look at you and mouths "I'm sorry." You smile at him in response. You're already starting to like this kid. Maybe you found a new friend. 

XX

You had many other friends that you hung out with everyday, but none of them were like Carl. None of them were as funny. None of them were as cool. 

Sure, you loved them, but Carl was turning into your best friend. And all of your other friends were getting jealous. 

One day, during recess, (Insert former best friend's name here) approached you while you and Carl were having fun and taking turns going down the big, red, tunnel slide, only one of them many on the playground. 

"Hi." You greeted your friend. 

"Hi. Do you not like me anymore? Do not like anyone but this kid anymore?" He/She asked rudely. You really hated them right now. Was it really an inconvenience to them that you had a new friend? They had to know that people had multiple friends and still got along with other people, right? Apparently they didn't. 

"No. I just... I just have another friend. Is that a giant problem?" You asked. 

"Yeah, if you're just going to diss me and the others." Your friend said, walking away. Why? 

"Wait!" You called, but it was too late. Your friend was gone. Could you even call them a friend anymore? 

You felt fresh tears spring into your eyes. You begin to cry. Carl site right by your side, putting his hand on your shoulder. "You okay?" He asked you. 

"No." You answer. Now it seems like everyone on the playground is watching you. Isn't it okay for someone to cry, or was that not allowed here? 

"Do you want something?" You heard Carl ask them. You wanted to hug him. 

"No." You heard a ton of kids answer. 

"Is (Insert your first name here) okay?" You heard one kid ask, to which Carl replied "She's fine." 

And from that day on, you and Carl were inseparable. Nothing could get between you two. Whenever there was partner work in class, you two were always partners. You always played on the playground together. None of your other friends wanted anything to do with you, but you didn't care. 

One day, since you two were becoming what most would call "Best friends" or "Besties", Carl invited you over his house. 

"You want me over your house?" You asked him. You were never actually invited to a friend's house before. You had no idea what your parents would say. 

"Yeah. Ask your mom and dad tonight, and if they say yes then you can come over tomorrow." He said. 

That night, just as Carl had said, you asked for your parent's permission. 

"Who's Carl?" Your mother asked. 

"My new friend." You answered. 

"Oh, ok. What about (insert former best friend's name? You never went over their house." Your father said. 

You really didn't want to tell them about how you recently lost (insert former best friend's name here) as a friend. You didn't want to tell them about how you cried when they left you. How Carl comforted you. You didn't want to tell them anything. 

"I don't know." You shrugged. "Carl was the first one to actually ask me." 

"Okay then. How are you going to get there?" Your mother asked. 

"I'm going to ride his bus after school instead of mine." You said. You had it all planned out. 

"Alright then. As long as it's okay with his parents." Your father said. 

"It is." You said. Carl told you that his parents would be very happy to have you over, especially his mom, because she liked to meet all of his friends, or so Carl said. 

"I'm going to call his parents." You mother said, going into her room. A few seconds later, she emerged with your class contact list. Oh yeah. You forgot about that. 

"What's this kid's name?" Your mother asked, scanning the list. 

"Carl." You answered, slightly annoyed. Didn't you just tell you mother this? 

"Is his last name.... Grimes?" She asked.

"Yeah." You said. Was there another Carl in the class? 

"Grimes... Grimes.... Grimes... That name sounds so familiar.." You mother said, pulling out her phone and dialing the number. She went into her room and shut the door. That didn't muffle her talking though. You could still make out what she was saying. 

"Hello? This is Mrs. (Insert last name here). Yeah... You said that it was okay... She's going to ride his bus.... Mm hmm... Yeah.... Okay. Thank you. Goodbye." You heard her say. 

XX

The next day, you rode on Carl's bus after school as planned. Your teacher had to write you a special pass so that you could do so, and she had to call your parents to confirm it with them. 

"So... Do you have any brothers or sisters? You never told me." You asked Carl as the bus drove down the road. 

"Nope. None." He told you. 

"Oh. So, do your parents spoil you?" You asked. 

He laughed. "Yeah." 

For the remainder of the bus ride, you and Carl laughed, told jokes, swapped stories about your family life, and played an I-spy game through the bus windows. You two were having so much fun that the bus ride felt like 10 minutes, not the 20 that it actually was. 

As soon as you two got off the bus, his mother, who was waiting at the bus stop, greeted you. 

"You must be (insert your name here)." She said. She was a skinny lady with dark hair. 

"Yeah, that's me." You said. 

"It's always great to meet Carl's little friends." She said, a big smile on her face. "I'm Lori, Carl's mother." She introduced. 

"Nice to meet you." You said politely, and you, Carl, and Lori walked towards the house. You all went inside. 

"I like it in here." You said. Pictures were all over the place. Carl and his mother. Carl, his mother and some man that you presumed to be his father. 

"Rick?" Lori called out. 

A cop stepped out of the kitchen. A real cop in uniform. You felt a little bit afraid.

"Calm down, that's my dad." Carl told you, laughing. 

You laughed. "I knew that." You lied. 

"Hey there. I'm Rick, Carl's father." The cop said to you, sticking out his hand. You shook with him. He had a pretty strong grip. 

"Hi." You said as he released his grip from you. You shook your hand to get rid of the stinging pain that he left you with. 

"Come on. Come see my room." Carl told you. He motioned for to follow him, and you did just that. 

"You kids have fun!" You heard Lori call out as you walked. 

"Your dad is a cop. That's so cool." You marveled as soon as you walked into his room. His room was like any other boy's. Race cars. Airplanes. Monster trucks. He had posters of all of those things on his walls. The walls were just plain white, but all of the posters made them pop. 

"What do you want to do?" He asked you. 

You surveyed the room. "How about legos?" You asked, eyeing the large tub of them in the corner of the room. 

"Sure." He said, retrieving the large bucket. 

XX

You and Carl played for hours and hours. Then you talked for a bit, about school, friends, family and such. Then, Lori came up into the room. 

"Your mother just called. She wants you home." Lori told you. 

Carl sighed. "Why already?" He asked his mother. 

"Carl, it's almost 7:00." Lori told him. Woah. Time flies. 

"Okay." You said. 

"Bye." Carl told you. 

"Bye. See you tomorrow." You told Carl, smiling. 

XX 

You went over Carl's house many more times after that day. And he came over yours. 

"That's how I knew the name Grimes!" Your mother exclaimed suddenly one time when Carl was over at dinner. "He's a cop!" 

You rolled your eyes. 

XX

Years went on. You and Carl were still inseparable friends. But when your 6th grade year hit, things began to change. You began to feel more for Carl. He was more than a friend to you. You were starting to have a crush on him. You wondered if he felt the same about you, but you were much too afraid to ask. What if it ruined your friendship? You knew that the thought was cliché, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't happen. And you didn't want to lose him now. 

"Hey Carl..." You began one day at lunch, unsure of how to finish. 

"Yeah?" He asked, cocking a brow. "What's up?" He was becoming more mature now, you could tell from the way he talked, the way he dressed, and the way he acted. And when you went over his house these days, you didn't play Legos or toy cars. You usually talked, played board games, or watched TV. 

"Nothing." You said, embarrassed. It was totally normal to have a crush on a boy that you knew for 3 years? You were unsure and insecure. Not like you could talk to anyone about it though. 

"You sure?" He asked. 

"Yes. I forgot what I was going to say." You lied, even though you knew exactly what you wanted to tell him. 

"Okay. It happens." He said. You wanted to hug him more than ever. But you had no idea how he would react. Would he turn you down? Never talk to you? Abandon you like you old friend did? 

XX

You held the crush for months. You just couldn't tell him. You were too ageist od everything. You wanted to ask your mom how to go about it, but you knew they she would just embarrass you, and your father would tell you that you were too young. 

For a whole you thought that it was dumb, just a very childish attraction that would turn into nothing more.

And every night, you would push these thoughts aside. You wanted it to turn into something more. You had a feeling deep down that it would. And even if couldn't, you wouldn't know unless you tried right?

XX

One day near the end of May of your 6th grade year you finally mustered up the courage to tell Carl how you feel. You had no idea why, but it had finally struck you. 

"Carl?" You asked him at lunch. 

"Yeah?" He replied. 

"I um... I like you." You said. You couldn't believe that you had actually just said that. What you had been waiting to do for months only took a few seconds. 

"Like me?" He asked. Oh god. You just blew everything. It was all ruined. You just screwed everything up. 

"Yeah, like more than a friend. I have an um... A crush on you." You told him. 

"Really?" He asked. 

"Yeah.." Was he about to tell you to get away? That's disgusting? 

"I like you too." He said. 

"What?" You asked in shock. 

"I like you too." 

XX

Word was out faster than you or Carl could imagine. 

"Carl likes (insert your name here)!" You heard people say in the halls. You wanted to tell them to shut up, to knock it off, but you didn't. You kept your cool. You liked Carl. He liked you. Let's just say that you haven't been happier in a long time. 

XX

Your relationship didn't go any further than crushing, as you wanted it too. You wanted him to be your boyfriend, but that's not what Carl seemed to want, so you decided not to say anything. Better not to jeopardize this. He likes you. Don't take it too far. 

Then came that terrible day. That day when Carl's father got shot. You walked out of school with him, where his mother was waiting outside. She was never outside. Must be a special occasion. 

You let Carl run up to his mother alone and give her a hug. Then she got down to his level, looked into his eyes. Then she told him something, and he reacted by bursting into tears. 

Your first instinct was to run over to him, and that's exactly what you did. You hugged him. "What's wrong?" You asked. 

"His father had an accident." Lori said. 

Carl's father was dead. "I'm so sorry." You told Carl. 

"He's not dead, just in the hospital with a gunshot wound." Lori continued. Oh, so he wasn't dead. Good. Things like this happened to cops all of the time, and they were always ok, right? 

You stood by Carl's side, comforting him.

XX

That night, the only thought on your mind was Carl and his father. You hoped that Rick was ok. Not only for Carl's happiness, even though you wanted that very much, but for Rick's sake. He was very good to you, and you were starting to like him very much, the more time that you spent with Carl. 

"Feel better." You said to nobody in particular. "Get better Rick." 

XX

Carl fell into a deep depression for the next few days. He hardly talked. He seldom made a joke or smiled. 

"My dad's in a coma in the hospital." He said as he plopped down beside you in class. It wasn't even his seat, but you weren't going to say anything. 

"I'm sorry, Carl. I really am." You said, placing your hand on top of his. 

"Aw." You heard someone coo. You scan the classroom for the culprit. But everyone is busy doing their bell ringers, which the teacher gave you every morning. You had to finish it before announcements each day, or else she gave you a zero. And this counted towards the grades on your report card. But right now, the last thing on your mind was your report card. 

You cared about Carl's happiness. His father getting better. Those things were all that mattered. 

XX

Soon, the unthinkable happened. The world went to hell. Everyone was running away from these things, these monsters. 

The first time you saw one up close and personal was when you left your house for school one day. You were walking up to your bus stop, and one of those things just jumped out at you. It was growling and snapping it's jaws. 

You screamed and took a step back. Then, before anything else could happen, you passed out. 

XX

You woke up in your house. You had no idea how you had gotten back there. Your family. 

You got up and looked around the house. They weren't there. 

"Mom?" You called out. "Dad?" 

No response. Where did they go? They didn't just leave you, you know that they would never do that. 

Maybe they were(you hated to think about this...) dead. Maybe one of the things had gotten them. Maybe... You just didn't know anymore. 

You left your house, unsure of what to do. Your first instinct was to run, so you did just that. Whenever you saw one of those things, you just ran even faster. This was bad. Really bad. What was going on? You ran all the way to Carl's house. Nobody was there. The house was stripped pretty much bare. 

"No... Carl...." You said quietly, feeling faint again. Where was he? First your parents, now him, what was going on? You wished that you never passed out, you wouldn't have missed all of this. 

You ran, you ran, you ran, and you ran until you finally reached the prison. You had no idea how long it has taken you to get here, how long you have been running for. You were there. Sure, you had taken shelter in a few other places before, but you never stayed anywhere for too long because those things had always found a way in. You were a lot older now though. It had clearly been a long time since the world had gone to shit. Since the last time that you had seen Carl. 

The only thing that kept you from moving on was Rick. Carl's father. He was in a coma last time you checked. Were you seeing things? Or was it really him? He was standing right there by the gate. 

"Rick?" You asked. You had never used his first name when talking to him. It was always "Mr. Grimes". 

"Is that... Are you..." He asked. 

"It's me. (Insert your name here)." You cleared up. 

"How... How are you still alive?" Rick asked. 

"I don't know." You answered. 

"Well, come in. We have a group of prisoners who will be happy to have you." He pulled you in for a tight hug. 

Then came the question that you were waiting to ask since you first sighted Rick. "Is Carl in there?" 

"Yes." Rick said. 

You practically flew into the prison. Cell block C. That was the place where this "group" was staying. And Carl. 

This is where you are now. All happy, holding Carl in a tight hug. 

"What happened?" He asked. 

"A lot." You answered. "I have no idea where my parents are." 

"I'm sorry." He held you tighter. 

"I'm glad your dad is okay." You said, smiling at him. 

"My mom isn't." He said. 

"What do you mean?" You asked, instantly regretting it once you saw tears in his eyes. 

"She died." He said, tears making their way down down his cheeks. You wiped them off. 

"I'm sorry." You said, feeling tears spring into his eyes as well. 

"I have a new sister now though. We haven't named her yet." He said. 

You hugged him close for a few moments, as he cried. Then he told you everything that had happened while he was here, and even before then. Before he was in the prison, he and the group had been at a farm. 

"I'm sorry Carl. I really am." You couldn't believe everything they had happened to him. 

"I'm sorry to be whining." He said. 

"It's fine." You said. 

He smiled at you. Then he placed a kiss on your lips. You were a little surprised at first, but then you got used to it. His lips were soft, and they tasted so good. You kissed him back. His taste was intoxicating. You kissed again, this time a little more passionate. You heard someone clear their throat behind you. You broke free from Carl. Why were they still watching you anyway? Didn't they have anything better to do? 

When you two finally broke free, he said: "You know, I've always liked you. Even when I was depressed about my dad. I still liked you a lot." He said, kissing you on the cheek. 

You kissed him back, on the lips. "You know what, Carl? I've always liked you too." You said. 

He smiled. "I'll introduce you to the rest of the group, then you can tell us how you've been surviving all of this time, and what's been going on with you." He said. 

You smiled. Could this get any better?You have never felt happier in your entire life. And the world was hell. That was what Carl could do to you. He could take the worst times and turn them into the best, just by smiling.


End file.
